Maori Associations of
North Otago

The Waitaki River is the counterpart of the River Tweed of Great Britain, dividing as it does English Canterbury from Scottish Otago. At its mouth on the Otago side there once existed a native settlement named Korotuaheka, its history going back to the unrecorded past. Its site is now the happy hunting grounds of archaeologists. Though hundreds of old flints, adzes and moa bones have been unearthed, except to the scientist with his pet theories and writings to the Polynesian Journal, a layman in the year 1944 can not be other than a little impressed.

During January 1931, Messrs H. S. McCully, A. G. Hornsey and D. Teviotdale were excavating at Korotuaheka. H. S. McCully, who hails from Peel Forest, conducted 60 Maoris of South Canterbury over the site during January 1936. Messrs D. Teviotdale, Philip George and Lindsay Buick during January 1937 were working over the ground and during April 1937, Messrs D. Teviotdale and G. H. Smith were likewise employed. Although Mr H. S. McCully has disposed of hundreds of stone implements to the Museums, he has still some 5,000 specimens in his collection.

The writer would commend the reader to read the unorthodox views of Mr H. S. McCully, which somehow or other have been allowed to appear in the Polynesian Journals of 1941 and 1943. His views are the most convincing yet expounded. Messrs Larnach and J. Herries Beattie visited Korotuaheka but their views have not been publicly expressed.

A few years ago a so-called "Mystery Stone" was unearthed near the old burial place. This occasioned much speculation, however analysis proved it was composed of consolidated ash from a permanent fire. The Korotuaheka Reserve of 489 acres was set aside for the natives at Chief Judge Fenton's Land Court, at Dunedin in 1868, being sections 12, 13 and 14 of Block 8, Papakaiao Survey District. The trustees were Matiaha Tiramorehu, Henare Maupara, Arama te Whatakaraka, Rawiri te Mamaru and Teone Rehu. In 1879 the Maoris appealed to the New Zealand Government to be given extra land as the Waitaki River had scoured away an area of 200 acres of the reserve.

In 1916 the Maori Land Board sanctioned the leasing of the reserve to a pakeha at 4/-d. per acre, and a few years page 103later that body allowed a sale by the Maoris at £3 per acre. Mr Chapman is the present owner, and he generously allows one Maori lady to reside on her tribal land. A right of way is reserved to the Maori cemetery in compliance with the Native Lands Act of 1930. In the seventies at Korotuaheka, Te Maiharoa started a whare kura or school of learning in a building called Matiti. Te Maiharoa received instruction in tohungaism from Piripi, a visiting tohunga from the North Island. Te Maiharia's fame for performing miracles is still common knowledge in South Canterbury and North Otago.

In 1944, little evidence can be observed of the existence of Te Maiharoa's kainga. Of the prior settlement abandoned probably two hundred years ago the bones and stone implements remain. James Cowan in 1937 truly remarked in the Christchurch Star: "Archaeology is of less importance than tribal history and traditions in assessing the duration of Maori and pre-Maori occupations of New Zealand. One wave of primitive race migrations after another might pass and leave little or no material trace behind."

Off the mouth of the Waitaki River is a rock named Te Whakatiki a Taarehu. According to information supplied in 1902 by Riria Potiki and Wi Pokuku, the rock represents a female survivor from the wreck of the Arai te uru Canoe. The lady was a sister to Maunga atua, a male survivor from the same famous canoe. Tradition says that a canoe commanded by a warrior named Matua hai tiri was wrecked at Waitaki Mouth. Survivors also became natural features of North Otago. Puke uri Junction is named after Puke ure an individual who landed from the Arai te uru wreck and is now a hill.

A small fight between the Waitaha and Ngati Mamoe tribes is said to have taken place at Puke uri. Of this skirmish we have no particulars. The probability is the hapu of the Waitaha dwelling at Makotuku-tuku Pa at Cape Wanbrow near Oamaru were contestants in the particular fray. Te Raki whaitiri and Te Ika o Puku are places at Waitaki Mouth.

In Ngai Tahu times the country from the Waitaki south to Shag Point and inland to Lakes Hawea and Wanaka was the land of the Ngati kane hapu. The sea beach from Oamaru to Waitaki is called Mimihanui. The Natural Arch at Cape Wanbrow is Tau Raka. This vicinity has yielded many curios of Waitaha times. The beach from Cape Wanbrow to Kakaunui is Whakoata. Allday Bay is Orore. Travelling south by road or rail the Wai anakama River presents a scene which charms. Mr W. H. S. Roberts interprets the name "where two waters meet". Mr Herries Beattie translates as "the creek of Naka rua". Te Kuri is the well-known stream at Hampden. Ka tiki is now corrupted to "Kartigi". Shag Point is Matakaea (wandering gaze) where stood (for over 200 years) until 1845, page 104a pa of the Ngati kane hapu of the Ngai Tahu Tribe. Matahaere, who was a grandfather of Tame Parata, m.p., once held sway there.

On November 11th, 1879, Tikini Pahau and others protested to the New Zealand Government that the Shag Point Colliery had in construction of its branch railway cut through the old burial place called Whateparaerae. The name Waituapapa is applied to the Katiki Beach. Tuckett, the surveyor visited Matakaea on April 20th, 1844. Pakateaio is that portion of the Shag Point Peninsula facing the Waihemo (Shag River). Ohinemaru is Bushy Park just north of Palmerston South. Moeraki, a mile or so distant from Hillgrove (Waipouri) railway station and situated midway between the towns of Hampden and Palmerston South, embodies over a century of European occupation. The latter dates from December 26th, 1836, when John Hughes accompanied by William Isaac Haberfield, Peter Sivatt, John Thompson, Richard Burn and John Knox established a whaling station, several of these whalers taking to themselves Maori wives.

When the Europeans first arrived, Moeraki was the home of Tangatahara and a few other Banks Peninsula natives who fled there after the fall of Onawe. With the advent of European settlement on Banks Peninsula these natives returned to their former home. Maoris from Kaiapoi led by Matiaha Tira-morehu came south and occupied Moeraki. Matiaha Tiramorehu died on April 7th 1881, and was interred at the Old Maori Cemetery at the old kainga. Other leaders were Rawiri Te Mamaru who died in 1887, and Henare Mauhara who passed away in 1899.

The Maoris of Moeraki became Christians in the forties through the efforts of the Wesleyan missionaries of old Waikouaiti. The Maoris possessed a printing press and printed their own religious notices. Dissension followed as the result of the visit of Bishop Pompallier, Roman Catholic missioner; and later in June 1843, when the Maori Anglican natives Matene Te Whi whi and Wiremu Tamihane arrived on the scene.

Bishop Selwyn held Anglican services in January 1844, in 1848 and 1851 at John Hughes's home. Moeraki then became the seat of strong sectarian bitterness. A Whare kura (school of learning) was conducted by Matiaha Tiramorehu at Moeraki right up to 1868. When the hall named "Uenuku" was built, the old whare kura building was burnt down. The kitchen of the Uenuku Hall, named after one of the wives of the ancestor Uenuku, is Wairututai. The writer carries memories of the old hall "Uenuku" with one of the last graduates of the Whare kura sitting on its doorstep endeavouring to instill the old learning into reluctant Maori listeners. The old worthy was Herewina Ira (Selwyn Eli) then about 75 page break

Site of the Huriawa Pa on Karitane Peninsula, Old Waikouaiti, of the great Ngai Tahu Chief, Te wera.

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Late Mrs Ria Tekini (Mrs Chicken)
A contemporary of the Waikouaiti Missionaries, died July, 1919, aged 110 years. Tattoed with the straight lines of South Island Art.

page 105 years old (that was in 1905). He was more or less a cripple as the result of a fall, but the remarkable feature about him was that his face bore the old system of tattoo, namely two narrow horizontal lines across the cheeks from ear to ear. He could recite his genealogy back fifty generations to Maui, who arrived in the Mahunui Canoe. Selwyn Eli presented his taiaha to my friend Felix Mitchell of Ravensbourne, Dunedin, a reward for his listening. The taiaha has since been presented to the Otago Museum. Selwyn Eli was converted by Bishop Selwyn.

W. B. D. Mantell, Land Purchase Commissioner, visited Moeraki in January 1849, and dealt principally with the chiefs Paitu and Tira Morehu. When the Native Reserve was being apportioned on December 20th, 1861, the leading men were Matiaha Tiramorehu, Henare Mauhara, Arama Haraka Te Watakaraka, Wateni Iki and Natanahira Waruwarutu. Matiaha Tiramorehu was baptised by the Rev. James Watkin, on July 30th, 1843.

The Maori population of early Moeraki fluctuated, in 1844 it was 200, in 1861 only 64, and 1869 it was 100.The reserve is of 640 acres. In 1868, the Moeraki Maoris were allowed an extra 322 acres up at Kaiapoi. The North Otago Daily Times of December 26th, 1895, called attention to the deterioration of the Old Moeraki Kainga. A few months earlier part of an old burial-ground was allowed to be washed away by the sea. The pa was finally abandoned in 1907, the Maoris moving into the European fishing village.

A Maori Court of Justice was held at Moeraki during August 1871. A native who was found guilty of stealing a pig belonging to William Isaac Haberfield was called upon to forfeit a mare and foal and pay £11 court expenses. Rawiri Te Mamaru was appointed Native Assessor at Moeraki on September 13th, 1861. Teone Rene Te Mamaru was made Native Assessor on March 6th, 1888.

The battle of Te Raka-a-hene-atea was fought between the Ngati Wairua and the Ngati Whaitara, a few chains from the Moeraki Lighthouse. It was at this battle that the warrior Kiri ma hinahina was slain and his body cooked and eaten by Te Wera and his friends. An aged Moeraki Maori requested me to make little of this fight as his folk were ashamed of practically massacring a bunch of old men. The next fight took place between the Ngati kane and Ngati tuahuriri near the railway line at Katiki and is called the fight of Takakopa. This was an intertribal affair occasioned by the actions of the quarrelsome Taoka who caused no end of mischief in the Ngai Tahu Tribe from Kaikoura southward. At Omihi near Kaikoura, Taoka's son had successfully wrestled with the son of Tawha ki te Raki. Not content, Taoka had made his son insult his opponent by placing his foot on his head. Long after, page 106Taoka remarked that Tawha ki te Raki was too fat to fight. The challenge was taken up by the northerners, who went south, but were repulsed. The leaders on the southern side were Taoka, Te Hau, Wheke, Puaka, Rehui; on the northern side Tawha ki te Raki Matauira, Te Hine Kapo, Pokeko and Parakiore. The northerners would have won the fight had not a section of their party emulated a Highland clan at Culloden by remaining sullen observers. Parakiore was an athlete and runner and exceeded his best performance when chased by Te Hau. He out-distanced his pursuer even though handicapped by having to carry his wife to safety on his back.

Some of the place names on Moeraki Peninsula may be given. These were collected from Henare Rehu, Wiremu Rehu, Wanaka Weka, Hamiora Tipene and others during short visits to Moeraki during the years 1906, 1907 and 1908. Omurahi was the site of the home of the late Wanaka Weka, who passed away in 1943. Pakitua was a rise on the Rehu property. Mahiti koura and Porou were places in the same locality. The site of the old kainga is Koraro tahuri. Waipepeke was west of the hall. Te kutu o te pa was the gate of the old pa. Te ahi a pokaka was a boundary near the Moeraki Lighthouse. Ohinehou a spring named after an ancestor (whose name is also immortalised at Port Lyttelton) is in the same locality. A ridge on the way to the old kainga is Tawha karuru.

The lagoon at the south-west end of Moeraki Peninsula was Wanu tui tui. The ridge west of the old kainga is Te kai wahia, and the beach south of it is Tutakahukura. It is named after a chief from Pohatu Pa, Flea Bay, Banks Peninsula. The southern point of Tutakahukura Beach is Te-upoko-a Paitu, and is named after Paitu the chief who with Tira Morehu dealt with W. B. D. Mantell, Land Commissioner in 1849. Te Kohere patiki is a point further south, and the creek is Te Awa hohonu. Raumoa and Puketiraki are hills on Moeraki Peninsula. In the vicinity of Kawa Creek mouth is an old canoe landing place.

There are five old burial-places on Moeraki Peninsula: Kihipuku, Kawa, Tikoraki, Uhi mataitai and Tawhiroko. Wai whero whero is a stream on Hampden Beach near the Nugget Rock (Pukemata) towards Hillgrove. Port Moeraki is One kakara. Poutaiki is a hill over towards the Moeraki Light-house. Koekohe is a beach to the north of Moeraki. Tarere-kautuku is the first bay and point reached coming from Hillgrove. The reef near the lighthouse is Taki a maru, and like the names Oamaru and Punaomaru further north honour an ancestor. Islets off the Moeraki Peninsula are Tokatara, Amira and Tutemakohu—the latter named after a famous chief. Beaches are Maukaika, Matua tiki and Kawa kawa.

Slightly north of Port Moeraki are the famous Moeraki boulders. The Arai te uru canoe going south heeled over on page 107its side and its cargo was cast ashore. The "waka" itself found its last resting place at the mouth of the Shag River (Waihemo). The reef there is its petrified hull, and a prominent rock is the body of Hipo its navigator. The large boulders on Moeraki Beach are the eel baskets of Hape ka taurake and his slave Puketapu; the smaller boulders are the calabashes which held the water, and the very small stones are the kumeras. Several of the crew got ashore and have become natural features. Puketapu Hill east of Palmerston South is the slave. Puke hiwi tahi, now known by its corrupted name Pukeviti, represents the one-armed captain of the Arai te uru Canoe calling in vain for the return of the twin children of Hekura (the Nga tamariki a Hekura), which are now the Sister Hills, west of Palmerston South. These children were overtaken by the dawn when out gathering firewood, and converted into hills.

On December 28th, 1936, a model pa was opened at Port Moeraki as a part of the Moeraki centennial functions. Grass grows rank over what was once the site of the Moeraki kainga. Hakapupu is the original name of the Pleasant River. The site of the Pleasant Valley Sanatorium is Otu tahanga (stand naked). The site of the baths at Akaroa, strange to say, also bears this name. At Goodwood, and Matainaka near Hawksbury, now known as Waikouaiti, are situated old Maori burial-grounds. Kakahu tuna is the name of the creek at Beach Road, Hawksbury (modern Waikouaiti). Mount Watkin called after the pioneer missionary, bears the Maori name of Hikororoa, and honours a Ngati Mamoe chief of that name.

Mount Durden is Pahatea, Kaoa kaoa Paikea being the native name of the slopes of Mount Durden. Wai a te ao is Mount Mackenzie, and Rupuku is the name of Mount Royal which, however, bears also the appellation of Rua tu pakahu.

From the railway station of modern Waikouaiti looking south-west one can see several miles away Old Waikouaiti now known as Karitane. The Hawksbury Lagoon is Mata inanga and its outlet is Waipaku; Marunihi is the small bay north of Mata inanga Head. Mount Cornish is called Ohine a moa. The Maoris of North Otago journeyed often into the back-blocks to Lakes Hawea and Wanaka, and to the Canterbury lakes of the Waitaki River basin—Ohau, Tekapo and Pukaki; all places of "mahinga kai".

Lake Hawea has an area of 45 square miles and is 1,062 feet above sea level. Lake Wanaka has an area of 75 square miles and is 920 feet above sea level. The literal translations of the name Hawea is "doubt" and of Wanaka "legend". Te Wai-haka-ata is an alternative name for Lake Wanaka and this means "mirror waters". The great explorer Rakaihautu, who arrived at the South Island by the Uruao Canoe about 850A.D. with the first Waitaha tribe is credited with the page 108formation of Lakes Hawea and Wanaka. The Hawea tribe which has given its name to Hawea lake was perhaps an offshoot of the Waitaha folk. Some traditions say they were a darker race with curly hair and spoke a different language from the Maori, other legends say they were a fairer race. Sifting out the differences it would appear that confusion has taken place; the original inhabitants being confounded with the second Waitaha Tribe who came on the scene centuries later in the Takitimu Canoe to the South Island.

According to Canon J. W. Stack, the tribe best known as Waitaha arrived from Hawaiki by the Arawa Canoe, the main ancestry of the Ngati Mamoe came in the Tokomaru Canoe. The Ngai Tahu trace their ancestry to the Takitimu, Kurahaupo and Matahorua Canoes. The Parata's, father and son so well remembered as M.P's for Southern Maori, have left on record the statement they were descended from an aboriginal people of the Waitaki who were dark and possessed curly hair. These folk were known as the Ngati Rakai; later they were joined by people who hailed from Patea, who claimed descent from Toi, (who arrived in New Zealand about 1125A.D.) Practically every tribe in both islands now trace ancestry in New Zealand to before the Great Arrival from Hawaiki in 1350A.D. So all have more or less a Moriori strain; evidences of a Melanesian tar brush can also be traced in the make-up of the Maori people, even in the South Island.

At Duntroon rock paintings are situated on a limestone cliff, and also at a rock shelter two miles west of Duntroon close to the main road. These drawings according to the traditions of the Ngati Mamoe Tribe were executed about the 12th Century by folk under Puhi a Rauru. There are several places north and south of the Waitaki showing similar art. At the meeting of the Oamaru Presbytery on August 9th, 1943, the Rev. J. T. Steele, minister at Dunstroon, made reference to the old rock paintings and their preservation. The Right Rev. J. G. Laughton, Moderator, considered the work as only early Maori. The Mackenzie County Council approached the New Zealand Government to have the Rock Paintings Caves protected by law. Ka wai kaukau and Otakiroa are the Maori names of these interesting caves aat Duntroon. To the average investigator these paintings were executed much later than the rock drawings of the Weka Pass in Canterbury

From information gleaned by Edward Shortland in 1843, and by W. B. D. Mantell in 1848, the old Maori trail to Lakes Hawea and Wanaka is definitely known. Fuller information in more modern times was obtained by W. H. B. Roberts of Oamaru. Starting at Waitaki Mouth the first stopping place was Te Puna-a-maru, which is situated at the junction of the Awamoko Stream with the main river; the next call was page 109Otamareu whenua; the next Otamatakou; the next Makatipu; the next Omarama, which was the scene of a memorable eviction in 1879 A.D.; the next call was Whanaukakino (Wether Range); the next Okahu (Lindis Pass); next Omako; next Tautuku; next Okotane, and finally Lake Hawea. These places mentioned are all in North Otago; however a break across the Waitaki River to places on the South Canterbury side was occasionally made at certain places. Samuel Hewlings, surveyor, had pointed out to him the Maori Reef situated about two miles above the Old Waitaki Ferry, where the Waitaki River runs shallow over a barrier of rock. (Samuel Hewlings eventually became the last Chief Surveyor of the Canterbury Provincial Government and perhaps the most efficient to the present time to hold the office. He was looked upon by the Maoris as a staunch friend.)

Tahitowaio was an ancient deserted pa above Te Puna-a-maru. Otekaike and Oteake were occasional stopping places. Kurow should be named Kohu-rau (covered with fog). Te Rihatauriki was the name of an ancient pas near Kohu-rau. The journey to Omarama was made up the Ahuriri River. Through the land grabbing propensities of early run holders the Maoris lost a reserve at Hakataramea set aside by W. B. D. Mantell for a hapu under Te Ware korari. The loss of this important place of mahinga kai, and the stringent attitude of the run holders to Maoris hunting weka on their pasturage runs prompted the Maoris of the Waitaki under Te Maiharoa to migrate to Omarama and occupy about 100 acres there, and so force the ussue. The Maoris in 1876, settled on the banks of the Ahuriri River, five miles below the Omarama Sheep Station. On August 9th, 1877, the manager of the Omarama Run, drove a mob of old wethers through the Maori Camp; this had the effect of stampeding the Maoris' horses over on to the Benmore Run, to which place the Maoris then shifted camp.

An article inspired by the runholders appeared in the Timaru Herald of February 5th, 1878, stating that the dogs belonging to the Maoris had destroyed 2,000 sheep. In October 1878, D. Sutherland, on behalf of the runholders made the same statement to the Waitaki County Council. Horomona Pohio, the Native Assessor for South Canterbury, who is remembered as a staunch supporter of the Wesleyan Church at Waimate, and a man of unquestionable integrity, stoutly denied the accusations. Of the runholders concerned, the Hon. R. Campbell and Son in 1877. only owned 250,000 acres, comprised of Benmore, Ohau, Otekaike, Station Peak and smaller runs. Trouble beween run holders and the Maoris was evidently burning in 1865; as Mr Hunter Brown, (then the Native Commissioner for the South Island), wrote to the Canterbury Provincial Government questioning the legality of treating Maori weka hunters as trespassers. He based his page 110opinion on the wording of the terms by which the runholders were in possession of the land. He put up a good case for the natives, but failed to get a hearing.

The writer had 100,000 documents of the Canterbury Provincial Government pass through his hands and it is remarkable that in the closely settled areas adjacent to Maori kaingas no complaints are recorded of sheep destruction by the dogs of the Maoris. Complaints by Maoris against European neighbours are on the other hand frequent, and moreover supported by such men as Doctors Donald and Rayner, Messrs J. W. Hamilton, B. W. Woolcombe and the Rev. J. W. Stack. The Hon. Mr Sheehan, the Native Minister of the short lived Liberal Government of Sir George Grey, gave the Maoris notice to quit Omarama, only allowing them sufficient time to harvest their cultivations.

On October 29th, 1878, the Hon. R. Campbell, and Mr F. G. Dalgety (who was the leaseholder of the Omarama Run), appealed to the New Zealand Government to have the Maoris evicted. The order of eviction had been issued the previous month, but the Hon. Mr Sheehan was reluctant to force the matter. However on August 9th, 1879, the Government had twelve armed mounted police and seventeen armed men from the Benmore and Omarama Runs sent to carry out by force the eviction. The Europeans were in charge of Inspector Thompson of Otago. The Maoris were equally determined to fight, but bloodshed was avoided through the influence of Horomona Pohio who had sent a close relative of his own ahead of the Europeans pleading with the Maoris to retire quietly back to Waitaki Mouth. The Maoris carried out the wishes of their chief. Slowly fifty Maoris with their wives, children and little worldly belongings trekked back in carts and on foot to Waitaki Mouth, leaving forever Omarama which for centuries had been a home of their ancestors.

Perhaps with some knowledge in his mind of the Highland Clearance in his beloved Scotland, D. Gordon Macdonald of Dunedin had willow trees planted to mark the site of the Maori eviction. These trees can still be seen below Omarama Junction. During the period of Maori occupation Te Maiharoa their leader conducted a whare kura (school of learning), at a whare called "Te Waka a ahua a raki". The runs on and surrounding the scene of the eviction were cut up for closer settlement by the Liberal Governments led by the Hon. R. J. Seddon and the Hon. J. G. Ward respectively, from 1906 onwards. Paritea, is the name of a landslip near Omarama and was the site of an intertribal skirmish. Te Monoao, is a hill near Omarama, and Tahu-a-arapaoa is the old track.

The Maoris journeyed down the Waitaki usually by means of a mokihi (flax raft). W. B. D. Mantell records such means of travel. From Te Awakamau to Hakataramea took an hour, page 111and from the later place to Te Puna-a-maru the raft travel covered four hours. Manuhaea is the name of the isthmus of Lake Hawea, and is the site of an old-time pa of the Ngati Mamoe Tribe. The locality which is near a lagoon on the western arm was made a native reserve of 100 acres by the Native Land Court in 1868, for the use of the Maoris of North Otago. Lake Hawea in the forties had a floating island. Te Tawaha a Hawea is the outlet of Lake Hawea. Turahuka at the head of Lake Hawea was the abode of a "taniwha". Pokotauia is a place on the Dingle River. Manuhaea Pa was once the possession of the chief Te Raki, and from this village passed the track to Lake Wanaka via the places known as Makapueko and Whakati.

The Hon. Captain Fraser, m.l.c., of Otago, during the seventies was a strong advocate for placing Maoris as sheep farmers on a large reserve to be given them at Lake Wanaka, but his pleadings were in vain. The evidence of old-time Maori occupation at the Makarore Valley of a permanent nature with large clearings for cultivation was clearly visible when F. F. C. Huddleston in the sixties took up the land. The following are place names at Lake Wanaka and Hawea: Wakanui, foot of Minarets, Lake Wanaka; the Minaret's Burn is Ote whakariki; Ote kotikake is the hill at Rambling Burn; Kotorepi, south of Buchanans Peak on the western shores of Lake Wanaka; Takekararapa, Stevenson's Arm of Lake Wanaka; Mouoiho is Manuka Island; Motutapu is the islet on the lakelet of Manuka Island; Teuhaha is a peak on the eastern shore near Isthmus Inlet; Orokotewhata, the saddle at Isthmus Inlet; Oterahere, is the creek at Teat Ridge; Otuawhiti is Steepburn Creek; Te Marara at Young River; Paekai, creek and bush near the homestead at the head of Lake Wanaka; Otepitoko is Rayburn Creek; Toakarora, is the bay on the western shore of Lake Wanaka near Estuary Burn; Oeuraki, a creek at the head of the Lake as is also Purupatea; Te Waiatakaia is Mount Barker; Ure tarewa is Craig Creek, Lake Hawea; Oternaku, is west of the Hawea River. Upoko Tauia is the site of an old time pa halfway up the Hunter River; Taumakukuhare, is the creek at the north-west side of Lake Hawea. Huripopoiarua is the East Burn.

At Pembroke stood the Ngati Mamoe Pa called Parakarehu, where Te Weka, grandson of Tutekawa, led a Ngai Tahu taua about 1710 A.D. and killed the chief Potika-tautahi. The Tautahi Mountains are named after this unfortunate chief. Paekai mentioned previously was the site of a pa. Matukituki (Mount Iron) bears the chief's name. Three miles up the Matukituki River near the Mate tapu creek, stood a pa called Nehe nehe, with its burial ground on a nearby hill. Te Moene of the Ngai Tahu tribe was captured there in 1836, when Te Puoho made his memorable raid from Nelson via Westland and page 112the Haast Pass to Tuturau near Mataura, where the northeners were overwhelmed.

The pas at Lake Wanaka, called Mouwaho and Takikarara, were dealt with by Te Puoho. However at the latter place Te Puoho had three of his warriors slain by the Ngai Tahu. The accounts of Te Puoho's raid although comparatively recent, vary to such a degree that one has to make a personal conclusion. However, from the tangle, it would appear blood was shed at Makarora before some of Te Raki's Ngai Tahu managed to escape to the forests. Some accounts say at Tuturau the struggle was great, others contradict this fact. Mr Lindsay Buick's estimate of thirty northerners killed at Tuturau appears correct.

Kaweriri, a son of Turakautahi, who was the founder of Kaiapohia Pa at Woodend in Canterbury, visited Lake Wanaka and Ohau with a Ngai Tahu taua. At Ohau he destroyed the Ngati Mamoe survivors from Weka's raid. He found no adversaries at Lake Wanaka and journeyed on to Southland, where he met the fate he deserved at the hands of Tutemakaho, the great Ngati Mamoe chief.